


twas the night before new years

by Amateurhosuefic



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, New Years, feels good and bad, its late i apologize, this got way out of hand...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:35:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22080046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amateurhosuefic/pseuds/Amateurhosuefic
Summary: i only wrote this because i wanted a scene where josie and hope fight over the last bottle of champagne awkwardly and then kissed on new years, theres a bit more plot than i was initially going for and this was supposed to be a one shot but hey, shit happens
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, misc
Comments: 39
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi there, enjoy my story, or dont..... but i hope you do

“and don’t forget, streamers, confetti-“

“relax, the party doesn’t even start until 8 pm, its not even 8 am yet, im going to the store in a little while and everything will be put together by 6”

“I know, I just need to be sure. You know how much pressure is on your father and I to keep the company in a good light in the media, we cant afford a screw up. This is nothing new”

Hope scrubbed a hand over her face. She knew exactly what her mother was getting at. She was never good enough, shes a delinquent and ruins everything, shes selfish and ungrateful, blah blah blah. It’s the same damn thing every day since she was 8 years old.

“I know mom, im sorry”

“I know you are, no matter what ill always love you”

Somehow hope doubted that greatly

It must have shown on her face enough for her mother to care because she was all up in hopes personal space speaking up not even 2 seconds later.

“I mean it hope, you… you’re the best thing to happen to your father and i.”

She means the person hope pretends to be to please her is the best thing to happen to them

“don’t roll your eyes at me hope, your father and I love you. Its your delinquent behavior we don’t love. If you weren’t always messing up we’d show it more”

“there it is” hope said under her breath

“we didn’t adopt you just so you could disrespect us at every turn liket his. It was your parents who abandoned you, not us. We saved you, you should be grateful”

“my parents died” hope said quietly

Hope was adopted at 8 years old by Barbara and marshall franklin. She was reminded every day about all of the reasons she should be thankful, and she was thankful that someone took her in after her parents died, she just wished it was literally any other family. Sure she got a car on her 16th birthday, sure she lives in a big house, but shes so tired of having all of her faults pointed out and being too afraid to say or do anything. Shes aware that you should respect your parents/elders but she wished that they would be happy with her 24/7 efforts of pleasing them.

“and we took you in. without us you would be out on the streets”

Barbara dropped the box of party decorations onto the table next to her and walked closer to hope

Hope slowly backed up until her back hit the wall and she couldn’t go any further

“honey, you know we love you and want the best for you” Barbara cupped hopes cheek

She means she loves how hopes adoption gained thousands of new clients to marshalls company

Hope clenched her jaw, posture rigid

It took everything in her tiny body not to say something stupid. She knew the consequences but it was so tempting just to unleash hell on the woman in front of her sometimes

Hope didn’t say anything

She looked straight past barbaras face.

Eventually the ridiculously fake red dyed haired woman dropped her hand from hopes face

“don’t forget to go to the store, we need champagne”

Hope swept her auburn locks out of her face

She had no idea how he was supposed to purchase alcohol at 17 years old

“yeah, ill go now”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josie picked at the lint on her black and white striped sweater

“mom, I really don’t see the point in having a mini new years eve party before the one at the franklin estate, its not like we’ll get to see the ball drop at 4 pm”

“lizzie, that’s not really the point. The franklin estate is all business, and despite what lliterally everyone thinks, the ball drop isn’t really what I care about, we’ll get to see it at the estate anyway, at least if we have our own with family we can let loose for a bit without making the family business look like a clownery”

“yeah, and besides, you can invite your bOYfrIenD” josie waggled her eyebrows

“Sebastian is not my boyfriend” lizzie said with mock disgust

“I don’t know about that dear sister of mine, your entire face is turning 50 shades of red”

“ugh, mom! You see what I have to deal with?!?”

“alright josie, stop teasing your sister and her boyfriend, go grab a bottle of champagne, lizzie, get some chips, both of you regroup at the deli in 5”

“yes mom”

“she makes it seem like a battle plan” lizzie whisper yelled over her shoulder as they all went their separate ways

Josie snorted as she walked through the store reading all the signs to find the alcoholic beverage aisle, onthing says fancy like a bottle of grocery store champagne-

Holy shit.

Holy flippity mother fucking shit.

Josie has landed her eyes on quite possibly the hottest human being in literally the entire goddamn world

Ok.

Ok, josie, be cool

You got this, just… go up there and talk to her

Yeah

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hope checked her shopping list again.

She could not fucking fathom how literally every liquor store in the entire state was out of champagne. How the actual fuck does that even happen?

This was her last option

She had called every grocery store in the area and asked about the availability of their champagne and all the same thing

None. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nothing.  
No goddamn champagne

Of course if her legal guardian wanst a complete psychopath, this news might be taken lightly, perhaps maybe frazzle her a bit if shes stressed, however, hope unfortunately has lived with the fake redhead for almost 10 years and knew just how insane she could be.

Barbara franklin, hugest pain in the ass in the entire galaxy. If hope didn’t turn up at that house with at least 10 bottles of champagne she was screwed, have fun making it to 2020

It was bad enough that if she even found champagne it would be from a grocery store and Barbara is far too good for cheap champagne, and if hope even found any it would probably not be anywhere near 10 bottles (and even 10 bottles is a small amount considering the guest lists size, and considering at least half were functioning alcoholics)

And then it happened

Hope landed her eyes upon the holy grail

The last bottle of champagne in the entire goddamn state on new years eve (not that it would have made sense to get it before new years eve or anything)

Hope crouched down to grab the bottle

Just as her hand was about to close around the neck of the bottle the unthinkable happened. A whole ass hand shot into her line of vision and snatched the bottle off the shelf

No

Absolutely not

Fuck no

Not in a million years

No

Hope would not survive the night if that champagne didn’t end up in the franklin household in the next hour

“ah, nice choice” the bruntte girl stated as if hope wasn’t making it painfully clear that she was practicaly having a damn heartattack

Hope ran a hand through her hair “not really”

In the seconds of silence hope noticed many things about this girl

For one, her hair looked really soft and if hope wasn’t in a hurry she would likely have had a much harder time refraining from running her hands through the strangers hair like a creep

Second off, her eyes were like…. Really shiny…. Like really damn sparkly, can eyes even be that shiny?mthey weren’t a particular color one might find striking, like a bold shade of blue or green, however on this girl, those brown eyes suckerpunched hope metaphorically in the face

And she had these super soft looking pouty lips- oh wait, her lips are moving, oh god shes been talking this whole time.  
“-and like, my mom is expecting me…” the cut pouty lipped brunette trailed off and looked at her watch, “12 minutes ago, so If I could just…”

It was at that exact moment that hope realized she had tried to grab the bottle back and her hand was awkwardly resting on the bottle, she wasn’t saying anything, and she probably looked constipated, probably making this beautiful human wonder if she was having a stroke or something

“uh… I mean, I really need this”

Really hope? Maybe a bit more backbone next time?

“maybe I coul-“ hope cut her off

“alright waldo, if you, your ugly striped shirt, and your “I go to starbuck religiously” vibe don’t get out of my face, I might have to waste this perfectly good bottle of champagne”

Hope… what the holy fuck…. Not that much backbone! God damn, you love starbucks!

The brown eyed girl gaped at hope for a minute  
“uh,, that was a little rude-“

“oh my god, im so sorry, its been a long day, I didn’t mean it, your shirts actually really nice, and I love starbucks so I don’t know why I said that, I literally own like 25 striped shirts in my closet-“ hope stopped abruptly when she realized the taller girl was holding back a manic cackle

“its fine” she said with a smile

They stood in silence again and hope tried her hardest not to notice anymore cute things about this person because she’d be listing things all day

“so uh… can I have that or…” wow ok, back to being pathetic again, hope goes from 0 to 100 and back to 0 real quick. This is why Barbara always calls you a failure

“josie what the hell! You were supposed to be at the deli 20 minutes ago!”

The stranger (josie apparently) turned around to see two blonde women, one with a shopping cart and a younger one around the brun- josie’s age walking beside her, the one yelling.

“I just need to get the champagne” she turned back to hope

“if I could just-

“but like, if im not back at my house with this in 30 minutes and it’s a 45 minute drive, my mom might legitimately kill me, so if I could, I don’t know, maybe take this, perhaps pay for it, kinda throw it in my trunk or something and speed off, that would be fantastic” there we go, polite smartass, right amount of sassy, asshole even though hope would literally kiss her ass to get this bottle, not that she wouldn’t kiss her ass anyway

“but I mean, I kinda need this…”

“josie, its fine, we don’t actually need it that bad” the older blonde said

“ah so I made a fool of myself for nothing then? Cool, coll” josie backed off and let hope have the champagne

“oh, thank you so much, you have no idea how much you just saved my ass” hope thanked the trio

“really, its not a problem” the older blonde went for a Moscato instead

Hope went with one final grateful nod, turned on her heel and left

She carefully cradled her treasure in her arms like it was a child, and headed to checkout

“hi, find everything ok?” the curly haired cashier asked as he rang her up

Hope inspected his name tag

Milton

“yes, I do have a favor though, Milton”

“please, call me mg” he said with a smile “please, seriously”

Hope laughed “sure mg, theres a group of three ladies, two blondes and a darker haired girl named josie if I heard correctly” hope fished through her backpack

“do me a huge favor, and whatever their total comes out to, write it on this check and let me pay for their stuff” hope handed the cashier a Disney themed check with a mickey mouse graphic on it

“woah, are you sure? It could cost a bit, it is new year eve”

Hope waved his concerns away

“mg, I don’t care if its 10 dollars, or 10,000 dollars, write it down and let me take care of it”

“wow, alright then, that’s very generous of you”

Hope chortled briefly “oh, and one more thing”

“sure….”

“hope”

“sure, hope”

“keep it anonymous, if you can?”

“absolutely, your total is 26.49”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“josie, what the hell was that? You seriously fought with a stranger over grocery store champagne for 2o minutes?” lizzie teased

“im sorry, I panicked”

“over what?” lizzie laughed

“shes hot, ok?” josies face reddened with the statement

“oooh, someones got I gIRlFriEnd” lizzie waggled her eyebrows

“do not” josie stuck her tongue out jokingly

“girls” caroline warned

“sorry mom” the twins said unisonically

“why did you decided to not just let her have the champagne, she literally looked like she was about to cry” lizzie poked

“I said I panicked, I started off trying to flirt and got carried away”

“josie, im gonna but in real quick, who calls fighting with a fellow customer over the last bottle of champagne flirting?” caroline asked, amused

“ugh, stop teasing me guys! Gay panic is my middle name. Lets just pay, please, so I can wallow in my stupidity for a while”

Lizzie and caroline started laughing their asses off

Josie loaded the groceries onto the conveyor belt all the while grumbling under her breath

“bad day, josie?”

“mg, you have no idea”

Mg laughed

Caroline took her wallet out preparing to take her credit card out to pay while the teenager scanned her items

“not today, mrs. forbes-salvatore” mg stated

“what?”

“your total is already taken care of”

“by who?”

“she asked to keep it anonymous”

Caroline scratched her head

“I cant just accept it”

“too late, she was very insistent” mg handed caroline her receipt 

“alright, next time you see her thank her for me”

Mg nodded

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hope put the bags onto the giant dining table

“I think I got it all” hope stated

“you’re late”

“it was a bit at the store” hope apologized

Barbara went through the bags

When she got to the final bag, a brown paper sack from gregs she chuckled dryly, no humor in her voice

“what, pray tell, the fuck is this?” she held up the single bottle of champagne

Hope stayed silent and looked at her feet

Barbara grabbed her face and forced their gazes to meet harshly

“I said” Barbara breathed out “what. The fuck. Is this”

Hope swallowed thickly

“the last bottle of champagne in the entire state”

“wrong”

Hope blinked

“you realize you were gone for three hours?”

Hope nodded, unsure if it was rhetorical or not

“and all you have to show for your excursion, is not only cheap champagne from a grocery store, but only one bottle knowing how many people are coming tonight?” she raised her voice at the end and hope flinched

She was lucky she was even able to get that considering she was underage, thankfully her stunt worked at the cashier forgot to check her id card, she still failed though

“it was the only one I could fin-“

Barbara whacked hope in the side of the head with the bottle, splattering glass shards and champagne all over the place

Hope fell to the ground, cradling her face as she curled into a ball on the floor

“clean that up”

Barbara stepped over hope as if she was just a piece of gum on the sidewalk

Hope waited until she could no longer hear the menacing clack of barbaras stilletos on the tile before letting a single tear roll down her cheek

It stank of blood and alcohol

Hope gingerly sat up as black spots littered her vision

Shed taken worse but knowing she couldn’t leave until she turned 18 in 5 months was like a sick joke. It was so far away yet so close, just out of her grasp

She felt as if no matter how hard she tried she would always be a failure

Hope picked the glass shards out of her face and set out to find a rag

She wiped her face off with the inside of her shirt

“happy new year” she scoffed


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> holy hell, its way past when i planned on having this out lmao, whoops. i did this on my phone so forgive any errors, and i hope you like it, its probably trash considering i didnt really edit this at all but hopefully its not too bad lmao

hope cleaned up the massive puddle with the aid of a few towels.

She was getting tired of Barbara and her abuse but she was stuck, if she called the police she would bring marshalls company down and have even worse problems on her hands, and if he went down for all the embezzling he’d been doing, (yes, she really hit the jackpot on these guys) hope would have to be relocated to a new home, and it probably wouldn’t be in mystic falls. She would lose her job and when she turned 18 she wouldn’t be able to move out and do what she wanted to do with her life. and there was no garuntee that she wouldn’t just end up in the same situation with new foster parents the only difference is she wouldn’t have a job or a plan

And that’s if she even managed to be relocated to another foster family. No one wants to foster a 17 year old for 5 months. Hope didn’t exactly consider herself the easiest to manage. Besides, half the abuse was her fault anyway. If she wasn’t so stupid and wasn’t messing up all the time maybe her foster parents wouldn’t be so mad at her all the time. Even all her friends left one by one once they realixed how much of a fuckup she is  
Hope made her way to the laundry room to dispose of the soaked towels.

Her face still stung where shards of glass she couldn’t remove were stuck, and where the alcohol had entered the wounds

She just wished she could figure out how to stop messing up. Maybe then Barbara and Marshall would actually love her. After all, these were the people her parents trusted her to live with if something happened to them, which it did. Not even her family wants her, her aunts and uncles all blame her for their deaths, her uncle Elijah even killed himself because he couldn’t bear life without his brother. They wouldn’t outright say it but considering they kicked her out of the house and made her live in mystic falls….

She angrily tossed to towels into the washing machine and slammed the door.  
She rested her blood and alcohol caked face on the washing machine door and breathed out. She had no right to be angry considering its literally her fault. She was the one who distracted her father while he was driving, she was responsible for him drifting into the other lane, and she was responsible for the crash. And besides, the last thing she needs is to make Barbara even more angry by breaking all of the household appliances

She had so much to do if she was going to prove to Barbara that she was a good kid.

Hope sighed and ran the washing machine before heading upstairs to the bathroom to take care of her face and wherever else she ended up falling on glass. She could feel some in her arm but she would have to take off her jacket to see if it was just a scratch or not.

She made it to the bathroom and flicked on the lightswitch, grabbing the first aid kit from under the sink and setting to work.

This became a routine after not even a year at the franklin estate, Barbara had definitely gotten more harsh with her outbursts over the years but it had all started when hope was little. First it would be a degrading comment that quite honestly, hope believed herself. I mean why would someone just say that for no reason to a kid if they weren’t actually a screw up that no one loved?

Anyway, if hope continued messing up Barbara would usually force her to stand in the corner for a few hours, the amount of time increasing depending on hopes offence until eventually it was for full days and hopes legs felt like jelly and she was light headed, the pain in her feet agonizing, but if she cried she had feared it would only anger Barbara further, and she was right.

Every time hope cried or complained, or even breathed loudly, Barbara would force a lego under hopes feet. Hope couldn’t believe how much it actually hurt to have all the little prongs push into her heels. She thought it was just a joke like her friends at school said but nope, it was worse than walking on glass

Come a year or so later and Barbara rarely used that punishment anymore as she had found new ways to punish hopes wrong doings. Hope had only wished she was smart enough to find out what she was doing wrong to not set Barbara off

Barbara graduated to burning her, whipping her with wooden spoons and lashing her full on on the back, and kicking her while she was down. Literally.

It got to the point where one day at school hopes shirt had ridden up and exposed a fresh scar to the teacher. The teacher immediately called in a sub, scooped hope up off the floor where she was reading a book (rather embarrassing given that hope was around 8 or 9) and went straight to the principles office.

“principle Saltzman, you need to see this” mrs. wylde had said

She carefully lifted the back of hopes shirt after setting her on the floor where 2 more large gashes came into view.

The principles jaw dropped so forcefully it knocked a few of his blond hairs out of place 

Mrs.Wylde put hopes shirt back down and turned her to face the principle.

Hope was crying assuming she did something wrong and had upset the teacher, she didn’t want another punishment

“hope, can you tell me what happened to your back?” principle Saltzman asked her with a soft, friendly voice

Hopes bottom lip trembled  
“I was a bad girl”

Principle Saltzman handed her a stuffed animalhe had nearby hoping it would help calm her down and he stood from his desk and sat on the floor next to hope

Hope cradled the teddy bear to her chest

“its ok, you aren’t being a bad girl right now I promise. But I do need you to tell me what happened. Do you have any other marks on you?” he asked gently

Mrs.Wylde was practically in tears in the corner. Obviously they weren’t stupid, they both knew that these weren’t “I fell down the stairs” marks, these were physical abuse. They just needed a little more information so they could call child services

“I was being a bad girl so I had to get lashes” hopes voice trembled. She didn’t want to upset her teacher or principle, she feared they too would punish her

Principle Saltzman gave her a sympathetic look, “can you sit on the couch for me?”

Hope nodded and sat on the couch with the teddy bear

Principle Saltzman stood and called child services

It was a full school day before they were done interviewing people and taking photos of hopes scars

“ric this is seriously bad” an officer with the name tag D. WILLIAMS had said

“I know. I don’t know how someone could just up and do this to a kid, especially hope. Its not right” principle Saltzman said

Nothing else was said between them and child services left with hope and alaric didn’t hear from them until the next day

Officer Williams, principle Saltzman, and Mrs. Wylde were fired the next morning and hope was removed from the school

After that incident hope was home schooled. Barbara had paid off nearly 50 cps employees to remove the records of the incident.

Eventually Barbara had grown tired of the same old punishments and began immediately lashing out when hope messed up.

Didn’t set the table? Hope got slapped in the face

Left your shoes on the stairs while you got a glass of water? Barbara would find anything nearby and cause physical harm to hope

One year, hope had broken her arm ‘playing rugby with her friends’

So needless to say, after tending to her own wounds for 10 years, hope was finished extracting the glass in a few minutes, already cleaning the wounds and applying antibiotic ointment

Hope knew it wasn’t exactly normal and it wasn’t particularly fair, but she also knew that she should have learned to be better by now and fully blamed herself for all of her punishments.

Hope looked in the mirror. She would definitely need to take a shower but the wounds were so fresh the water would probably hurt. And she would most certainly need to cover them with makeup, especially before new years eve, and especially before she went back to work on Monday. If she caused a repeated of last time Barbara would kill her

Hope put the first aid kit away and settled on washing her hair in the sink to avoid getting an unnecessary amount of pain from the shower

She took off her shirt and scrubbed away.

5 minutes later she was done, hair brushed, mess cleaned up, and back in her room with a fresh layer of concealer on her face covering everything up

She remembered she still had to get decorations and snacks and whatever else she put on her list.

She groaned into her pillow and got up again, threw on a new hoodie and some pants, grabbed her keys, threw her hood over her head, and set off to some form of a grocery store or something. Wherever had party supplies would be fine at this point

Xxx

Josie was helping her mom and dad set up for their middle of the day new years eve extravaganza, or at least that’s what lizzies giant blinged out banner hanging from the ceiling called it.

Her father was still at work, he got off early but it wouldn’t be for another hour. She understood things cant always go the way you want, but she missed when her father was a school principle, she was young, so young that she doesn’t even remember why he was fired in the first place, but at least then he got home at the same time every day. Now he doesn’t even do the same thing every day

Josie was putting chips on the back table when her mom called her to the kitchen

“yeah mom?” josie put the chip bowl onto the counter and wiped her hands on her pants

“I may or may not have forgotten decorations, is there any way you and your sister can go pick some up while I finish setting everything else up? I have no idea how I forgot everything but the table cloths” caroline facepalmed

Josie checked the time on her phone “yeah I got a few hours to kill anyway, call me if you remember anything else while we’re out” josie said

“lizzie! We’re off to the greatest place on earth”

“any themepark ever?” lizzie joked

“better, the store”

Lizzie snorted and josie grabbed the car keys

“see you whenever mom!”

And then the twins set off to the store for decorations. It probably wasn’t necessary but if it made their mom happy they were on board

Lizzie hopped into the passengers seat and josie turned the key in the ignition, the cars engine thrumming to life

“so, moms clearly on a tirade” lizzie said once the car was out of the driveway 

“what do you mean?” josie asked

“you haven’t noticed how insistent she is with this whole mid day party?”

Josie shook her head “so? You know how much her and dad work, and the party tonight at the franklin estate is basically a work trip anyway, she should be able to just hang out with us today”

“well obviously, I just worry about her sometimes. She’s seemed so stressed lately. Obviously being the main provider ever since dad was fired when we were still in elementary school and then him taking up freelancing would be stressful for anyone but it seems like more than that lately”

Josie thought over lizzies concern “who knows, im sure shes ok, it could just be her stressing about tonight. You know if she closes this deal itll pretty much set her up for the rest of her life, and our lives, and our childrens lives” josie laughed at the end of her sentence  
“well, guess we don’t have any time to think it over, we’re here”

“ah yes, Walmart. It’s a love hate relationship with this place. Like yeah, its right by every building youll ever be at, but do I really want to dodge and weave through a sea of customers to get some frosted flakes at 3 am just because I can?”

Josie laughed “your obsession with despising Walmart always makes my day” josie turned off the car and the duo headed inside, not after fighting to cross the street for a while

Walking inside the doors, josie turned to her sister  
“so, where to go first?’’

“streamers, I don’t care how cliché it is, we need streamers…. Oh no wait before we forget can we just hit up the soda aisle cause mom forgot to buy the best soda ever”

“dr.pepper?”

“you know it”

The girls headed to the back of the store with their newly aqquired shopping cart “so, I take it Sebastian will be there today? Maybe mg for a little love triangle action?”

“ew josie you make it sound like we’re going for a threesome”

Josie chortled “I literally didn’t even try to imply that. Its not my fault you have a dirty mind. And you never answered me.”

Lizzie sighed  
“yes. Fine. Maybe Sebastian will be there”

Josie victoriously shot a fist into the air “I was right. Ha!”

Lizzie shook her head and tossed a case of soda into the cart. “to the party decorations”

The twins chatted the entire way across the store until they hit party supplies and lizzie suddenly stopped talking

The blond nudged her twin “hey, isn’t that that chick from earlier?”

Josie looked towards where lizzie set her gaze and saw a girl in a black hoodie with auburn hair. A quick turn, and therefore flash of her face for a brief second confirmed lizzies theory

“oh my god, hide me, im enough of a gay mess as it is” josie hid behind her sister

“calm down and talk to her, as much as I don’t advise picking up chicks in the party aisle of a Walmart your being single bores me”

Lizzie pushed josie towards the redhead and she stumbled into her

Josie looked up sheepishly  
“we have to stop meeting like this”

Xxx

Hope pulled into the parking lot and double checked her shopping list. She was certain at least half of it wouldn’t be found here, but it was worth a shot

She made her way through the aisles grabbing things off the shelves making sure they were brand name, otherwise Barbara would have a heart attack, when finally she found herself in a party decorations aisle. It wasn’t anything fancy but they had a new years section and all the basics, streamers, balloons, the important stuff. She threw a few confetti poppers and new years centerpieces into the cart and was looking for some color coordinated streamers to match, when a full size human being body slammed her into the shelving.  
Ok maybe that was a little dramatic, it was a slight bump

She looked into the culprits dazzling brown eyes and recognized the person who crashed into her, it was the same person from the store who tried to take the champagne that ended up all over the floor anyway

“we have to stop meeting like this’’ the brown haired girl said sheepishly

Hope raised her eyebrow, shes been told it’s a powermove  
“are you following me?” she joked

It was then that the brown haired girl realized their position (a rather intimate hug with her body practically glued to the woman) and she backed up abruptly, nearly knocking the auburn haired girl off balance

Josie laughed uncomfortably in a manner probably a little too loud

Hope watched her with an amused glint in her eye

“josie right?” hope asked

Josie halted “how do you know my name?”

Hope flushed, no shit, that was creepy, here we go again fucking shit up

“I uh, I heard someone say it at the last store we ran into eachother at”  
Hope stated 

“hmm, well, if you know my name its only fair that I know yours”

“I like to keep a bit of mystery about me” hope said smirking

A blonde coughed behind josie in what she probably thought was a subtle way, sunglasses with the tag still on the bridge hastily flung onto her face as she turned away to look at other decorations

Josie coughed “well, how about I take you to lunch today and you can tell me then?” josie asked daringly, a surge of confidence coming from nowhere

Hopes eyes widened “no” 

“uh well there goes my confidence” josie shrunk into herself

“wait no, that’s not what I meant, I mean no, because I have plans today, uhh, maybe another time” hope rushed out

“uh… yeah maybe…” josie turned around dejectedly and began walking away

Stupid hope, fucking up as always

If only she didn’t have to be home and setting up…

“uuh.. you know what? Wait josie” hope said the words before she realized what she was doing

Josie turned her attention to the auburn haired girl

“lets do lunch”

Josie grinned “meet me at the mystic grill” and then she winked, strutting away with the not at all evesdropping blonde in tow

Hope was screwed

Xxx

“so…. Hope huh? That’s pretty fitting, a pretty name for a pretty person”

“well, glad you like it or this would be pretty awkward” hope laughed

Josie laughed back “so, you live here right? You must have been here before”

“actually… this is my first time in the mystic grill”

Josie gasped “like… ever?”

“yeah, I know, its illegal”

Josie laughed “that’s an understatement, glad I could be the first to introduce you to this place. It’s a staple of the town, say what you want but this restaurant is mystic falls, without it it wouldn’t be the same”

Hope laughed “so ive heard. So tell me about yourself josie, do you always invite strangers to lunch?” hope raised a brow questioningly

Josie blushed “cant say I do, theres just something about you that makes me want to know you more”

Hope blushed

“man, lizzie should be out of the bathroom by now” josie said, eyes searching the restaurant for her sister

“do I make you that uncomfortable?” hope teased

“what? No!” josie replied all too seriously

“relax, im just messing with you, I get being worried about her”  
The tension dropped from her shoulders and she sat back silently for a minute

“do you have a sister?” josie asked suddenly

Hope laughed uncomfortably “that’s a hard question to answer”

“what about it is hard to answer? Not that you have to obviously”

“well, I had a sister”

“oh”

“she died when we were young in a car accident. She was just a baby, too young to talk”

“oh, jesus, im so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you have to explain it to me-“

“its alright” hope cut her off “I wanted to. For some reason you make me want to spill all my secrets to you” hope said

“people tell me id be a great interrogator, im a people person and people love talking to me ever since I was little” josie said 

“I can see why, im not sure what it is but I feel like I could talk to you forever, that’s weird right? Is that weird?”

Josie laughed “not at all, I get what you mean”

Josies phone went off

“ah, lizzie has decided to ditch us”

Hope laughed 

Josie pocketed her phone “well, looks like its just the two of us then”

“eh, I don’t mind” hope said “so, enough about me, tell me about yourself”

Josie rubbed her neck “hmm, theres not much to tell im not that interesting” josie said

“I doubt that”

Josie looked at hope “you’re a different kind of person you know that? Normally on first meeting people hang with my sister over me”

“well that’s stupid of them, you’re clearly the cute twin”

Josie blushed “I have an idea”

“do tell” hope said inquisitively 

“how about we take turns asking eachother questions?”

Hope thought it over for a minute “alright im down, you first”

“hmm, do you have any hobbies?”

“I draw and paint”

“really? Ill have to have to see some of your stuff one day”

“I think I can arrange that” hope smirked “ok, my turn…. Whats your favorite movie?”

“I have several…. Of the same character….. im super into the spiderman movies, they’re super relatable”

“which spiderman actor is your favorite?”

“that’s cheating, you asked two questions” josie joked

“ok fine your turn” hope grinned

“when was your first kiss?”

“ooh, spicy questions now, I see how it is” hope deflected

“I escalate quickly, what can I say”

“when was yours?”

Josie interrupted “nope you have to answer first” josie said playfully

“ok ill bite, I was 16, what about you”

“14, and ima need more details”

“dang, making out with people at 14, what a rebel jo, I didn’t know you had it in you” 

Josie blushed at the nickname

“it was a dark and stormy night” hope began

“is this a horror story?”

“well…. Yeah…. But no?”

Josie laughed “articulate I see?”

“shut up” hope said laughing “it was a dark and stormy night, I was having a sleepover with the most popular kid at school, I know, crazy, anyway, we’re watching a scary movie and one thing leads to another and shes cowering and cuddling all up in my side right?”

Josie was engrossed in the story, she couldn’t tell if it was that good a story or if hopes gesturing and reenacting was just that adorable

“so anyway, the movie ends, and we’re joking about how she shouldn’t have chosen to put on a horror movie and then we have a moment, then bam, we’re making out”

Josie laughed

“so we’re making out, and things get heated, shes on my lap and then…”

“oh my god hope then what don’t leave me in suspense”

“and then, she knocks a lamp off my nightstand and my foster mom bursts into the room”

“oh no” josie covered her face to hide her giggles

“and once Barbara realized what we we’re doing she had the girls parents pick her up and made me sleep outside so I didn’t go gaying around the house corrupting stuff and then the girl told the whole school I was gay and I was bullied for two years” hope laughed at the end of her story

Josie stopped laughed “dang, that’s messed up…”

Hopes laughter died down “it wasn’t that bad, our gardener checked on me every hour and helped me set up a tent so I didn’t get rained on, plus the maid got me new clothes from my room”

“damn, she just left you outside in the rain all night?”

“a month actually”

Josie grabbed hopes hand “my god, im so sorry hope”

“its fine, it could’ve been worse”

“really?” josie asked disbelievingly “it can be worse than leaving you outside for a month…. Your foster mom sounds like a piece of shit no offence”

“she didn’t hit me or anything so I took the win, she comes from pretty homophobic backgrounds so I understand where she was coming from”

“hope, forgive me if im overstepping but that’s fucking stupid. Why would you justify that? You did nothing wrong and she literally neglected you. She doesn’t do that all the time right? Tell me you aren’t living with someone who neglects you”

Hope stayed silent, she was messing up again and now she upset josie, hope waited for the slap to come but it never did

“hope” josie said brokenly “that’s not okay, you cant just take it”

“no offence josie but you don’t know the situation, its my fault anyway, ill be out in 5 months where I cant keep messing up everything and then ill be ok, you don’t have to worry about me”

“hope you have to talk to someone”

“no I don’t, and you wont either, please don’t tell anyone, they’ll move me to another foster home and ill lose everything” hope wiped the side of her face with her sleeve and winced

“What the hell happened?” josie got up and moved to hopes side of the table and took her face in her hands. The wipe revealed a bunch of small wounds

‘’nothing, just drop it” hope didn’t look her in the eyes

“its not nothing, did she do this to you?”  
Josie looked at the nasty bruise on the side of her face that was revealed and much easier to see up close

Hopes phone rang and she lightly pushed josie off of her to check the caller 

Big white letters flashed across the screen spelling out Barbara franklin and hope blanched, it had been 3 hours that they had been talking and hope only had 1 more hour to set everything up and be ready for the new years eve party an hour after that

“damnit, I have to go”

“hope wait-‘’

“I have to go josie, ill call you or something”

Hope rushed out of the restaurant 

Josie dropped her head on the table. What was she going to do?

Xxx

“Where the hell we’re you hope” a voice called out the minute she opened the door to the estate

“I was picking everything else up, I have the snacks and decorations all here and I already had ms.hanks start working on the rest, im so sorry I got caught up”

Barbara slapped the bags out of hopes arms “you’re lucky we’re on a time crunch, you have less than an hour to have this whole place decorated or you will regret it”

The older woman stormed away leaving hope to work around the house.

She wasted no time and started wrapping things in streamers, setting out centerpieces, and blowing up balloons. In 45 minutes flat she had the entire main room decorated and snacks set out, and ms.hanks with her team of caterers on standby.

She double checked that everything was ready and then practically ran upstairs to make sure she herself was ready before finally putting the final touches on the house, the halls decorated by someone other than her, who she would thank later as they looked amazing, and then she went to the kitchen for a glass of water while the dj set up his equipment including hooking up to a large projector to watch the ball drop on

She heard barbaras heels clacking before she saw the woman and she made sure to put her water down to avoid any mishaps

“it looks terrible out there, but we don’t have time to redecorate because it starts in 10 minutes, get out here and try not to embarrass your father with that hideous outfit you’re wearing”

Hope sighed, she was hoping she did a good job but clearly she didn’t.

“lets get this party started”

Xxx

Josie walked in the door of her house and sighed, she was conflicted…. And her legs were sore from walking all the way home since lizzie took the car home

She wasn’t sure if she should tell someone about what she’d learned and betray hopes trust after literally not even a day knowing eachother, or if it was better to just let her endure it for the next 5 months so she could leave.

Obviously josie hated the idea of hope being in that situation for another second, but she doesn’t really know her or the situation, and josie feared that telling someone might ruin hopes chances of ever getting out.

“there you are, its been 3 hours, date went well I take it?” lizzie said, abruptly walking into the foyer with a few root beers

“whats wrong, you’re pouting more than usual”

Josie thought over her situation a bit before finally deciding what to do

“I have a dilemma”

And that’s how josie found herself in her fathers office, or rather the guest room of their house where he kept a printer, sitting across from her parents, lizzie at her side

“what do you need to tell us? You’re not pregnant right?”

Josies eyes widened “what? No”

Alaric deflated and caroline stifled a laugh

“hypothetically, if I knew someone who was hypothetically maybe possibly kind of being abused mentally and physically for an unknown period of time hypothetically, what would be the best course of action”

Alaric sighed “who is it”

“im not sure if I should have even said anything, im sorry im just gonna go”

Josie shifted her weight to leave when lizzies hand on her arm stopped her  
“please josie, just tell them”

Josie hesitated “ok… so I met someone today, and shes in a situation, a bad one, im not even sure of the specifics, she told me not to tell anyone at all and im betraying her trust just by saying anything…”

“go on” caroline urged gently

“she told me this story about how her foster mom made her sleep outside for a month in the rain just for having her first kiss with a girl, and I saw some bruises and cuts, and she didn’t say much but im pretty sure this isn’t a one time thing considering everything”

“well, how old is she? If shes over 18 cps cant do anything but maybe police can”

“shes 17, 18 in 5 months I think, look, I came because lizzie said its better to get help than let her ride it out any longer but I wont forgive myself if we make it worse for her”

Alaric leaned forwards in his seat “did I ever tell you how I was fired?”

Josie and lizzie shook their heads

“well, there was a girl, no more than 9 probably more like 7 in one of the classrooms in the school and she had scars, a lot of them, would shy away from touch, classic signs of abuse, so I rang a buddy at the station and had them come down and build a case, things didn’t exactly work out, I don’t even know where she went or if it helped her, but I tried my best, what im saying is you have to at least try your best to help people when you can. Imagine if it was you or lizzie, you would want help right? Its not easy and its frustrating sometimes and sometimes you might make the person you’re helping upset because they’re scared, but you have to try”

Alaric sighed “man im bad at this, that was a bad example”

“its alright dad I get what you mean, I have to do my best to help her even if its just a support system”

“well no I meant to get the authorities involved unless you think her life is at risk if that happens…”

The family sat awkwardly for a moment

“yeah I see how the situation is difficult for you josie” caroline said

“well, how about we get ready and head to the franklin estate so mom can close this deal and we can mull over our options later. Not to be a prick but this deal is rather up and coming for mom” lizzie said 

“what a polite way of putting it lizzie, lets just ignore the problem at hand to go party” josie said, crossing her arms

“I couldn’t have said it better myself” lizzie beamed 

“seriously”

“I just mean that maybe some time to clear our minds might help us come up with a solution, its all pretty fresh in all of our minds right now”

“fine”

Xxx

The party was in full swing at the franklin estate, drunk business men bragging to eachother about their money, random women from barbaras book club of literally 50 people all dissing eachother passive aggressively, the usually for large gatherings in their social scene

Hope was already buzzed on whatever alcohol she poured into her soda so she could hopefully not even remember this night the next day as she walked around greeting family friends with a fake smile plastered on and the same greeting script on her lips, usually a hey how are you and a hows the misses

Hope hated these stupid events. It was more about business than pleasure and everyone knew it, hope was there to make the company look better, the adopted orphan saved by the franklins was a cow that family had been milking since her parents died, and hope hated it. It meant she had to be perfect and charming all the time and not screw up or piss anyone off, which she did way too easily.

Drinking was probably not the greatest idea, considering her cynical unfiltered half came out around the second round but hope couldn’t care less, also probably the alcohol speaking. She knew enough to not go around making fun of the richer mens’ hair pieces and their wives fake tits, plus the alcohol eased her a little bit, her body not holding its constant rigidity and her legs not ready to run at any given moment, but if a random old white man came onto her (and they always did, which was creepy and gross) she probably would be snarky about it

She continued her rounds about the party, getting glared at every so often by Barbara and a disappointed head shake from marshall every so often, so she knew she was either that bad at hiding her tipsy status, or was ruining something like she always was, she could practically feel the beating that would come later, but she was fine until at least 1 am and resolved to downing another vodka spiked soda 

It was around her fifth cup that she noticed a familiar brunette in the crowd, the two locked eyes and before she knew it, her legs were carrying her over to the girl

Xxx

Josie walked through the large double doored mansion known as the franklin estate, her sisters arm locked in hers and her parents right behind them

She was about to charm the pants off of the franklins or whoever the hell her mom needed to negotiate a deal with so they could get the hell out of there.

Josie wasn’t really one for large gatherings, never mind ones with alcohol and drunk people running around without their wits about them, she just didn’t enjoy it. She never really understood the point of alcohol, it made people act ridiculously. She could understand wanting to be free for just a little bit, but to her the embarrassment of drunken escapades was enough to keep her far away from the bar until her 21st birthday and probably only that day

“your girlfriend is here” lizzie stated suddenly, pointing across the room to an auburn haired girl in a black longsleeve dress and heels, looking like literal perfection crafted by the gods themselves despite the marks josie saw on her earlier

She locked eyes with hope and the mentioned girl came walking over. Josie wasn’t sure if the swing in her hips was intentional or not, but realistically she couldn’t complain

“fancy seeing you here jo” hope said, slurring her words ever so slightly in a manner josie kind of found adorable, she couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what hope sounded like in the morning still groggy from sleep

“fancy seeing me here? I didn’t expect to see you at this shindig” josie said, lizzie said something about going to find their parents or something but josie wasn’t really paying attention

“why not?”

That’s a good question. Why not? Nearly everyone in town always made an appearance at every franklin estate gathering, if not for the business related mingling, then the free entertainment

“so, what are you doing here anyway?” hope asked, a teasing lilt to her voice almost as if it was some kind of innuendo despite being nothing of the sort

“my mom is closing a deal with some rich asshole ceo and im here for the ride”

Hope nodded “my foster mom must be the rich assholes wife then?”

Josie paled

“your foster mom is here?”

“well yeah, this is her house” hope said like it was the most stupid question ever

“wait, you’re hope mikaelson? The franklins adopted kid? You said your name was hope marshall”

“well technically its hope andrea mikaelson marshall keener but that’s a shitton of names so I usually just go with hope marshall or mikaelson. If I knew I would be running into you… again, I probably would’ve told you who I am” hope laughed

“well damn, what a coincidence”

“so josie, how about I get you some punch or something charming and chivalrous?” hope offered, a brow raised teasingly

“hope andrea mikaelson, are you flirting with me?”

“that depends” hope smirked “do you like it?”

Josie blushed “I cant say im opposed to it”

“well since you aren’t opposed and im a little drunk I guess ill just keep doing it then?”

Josie giggled “you’re a dork hope mikaelson”

Hope smiled, a whole entire genuine smile

xxx

“so mr. franklin, what do you say, do we have a deal?”

“well mrs. forbes, before we shake on anything, id like you to meet my daughter, hope” he grabbed hopes arm as she walked past and forced her by his side

Lizzies eyes widened and she was about to say something before hope shook her head no, practically imperceptibly, and she clamped her own mouth shut and waited for the adult interaction to be over

Eventually franklin and his cheap hair piece walked away leaving the saltzmans and hope together

“so hope, fancy seeing you again, mom, dad, this is josies friend” lizzie told more with her eyes that hope was too drunk to read in the moment

Understanding flashed across across their faces and alaric stuck a hand out for her to shake  
“ah, well, any friend of josies is a friend of ours… considering we’re her parents” caroline said as alaric shook her hand politely

“well that’s good to know” hope laughed “speaking of josie I better bring this to her before the ice waters it down” hope nodded awkwardly and walked away. She just met her and shes meeting her parents already? This is bigger than a uhaul situation, this is a full on already married with two cats in a week situation

Hope snorted to herself and shook her head

“here you go” hope handed josie a plastic cup with a dramatic flourish that had josie barely stifling her laughter

“my hero, and here I though I was gonna go thirsty” josie teased

“ah, thank your parents for That one, I ran into them and then promptly left after two words because im too socially awkward for that encounter” hope said honestly

Josie laughed “you know hope, you’re something else”

Hope suddenly sobered up “so are you josie. Ive known you for like 2 seconds and ive already spilled things to you ive never said to anyone else, I feel like I can really trust you”

Josie felt a pang of guilt for telling her parents about hopes story 

“about that-“

“hope, come here, collen is here” a redheaded woman yelled across the room

“duty calls”

“hope wait”

But hope was already across the room talking to some guy josie could tell was an asshole all the way from her place by the dj

Josie sighed and made her way to the kitchen where there were far less people, mainly what looked to be some kind of staff and a few men in suits, and then she sat down on a barstool by the counter

She checked her watch

11:30

She sighed. On one hand she wanted to get home, but now that she had ran into hope, she wanted the night to last forever, just her and hope having a good time

Speaking of the devil, hope stumbled into the kitchen, not noticing josie until she caught her eye

“hey, there you are, ive been looking for you all over the place. For your information Saltzman, you are the only person in the entire house who I actually enjoy conversing with, man did I just admit that? Holy hell im insane today, what Is up with you jo cause id never say that to literally anyone else in the world”

Josie laughed “I told you, im a people person”

Hope inspected her closely “nope, im pretty sure its just your eyes, theyre so deep and sparkly, I just wanna talk to you forever and get to know you inside and out, wait no that sounded creepy, I mean…. You know what I mean”

“countdown in 10 minutes” a voice said through the djs microphone

“hmm, we should probably head out then huh?” hope said

And the two girls walked into the main room, hope practically draped over josie. She knew Barbara might have a stroke and murder hope later for being so handsy and extra about everything, but something about josie made it hard for hope to give a damn about the consequences. Something told her josie was more than worth it

“you know, ive said it about a billion times today josie, but I really enjoy talking to you”

“and I you, wow that sounded formal” josie laughed

Hope grinned and wrapped her arm around josies side and leaned into her  
She usually wasn’t so touchy but hope literally felt pulled into josie like it was magnetic. At first she thought she overstepped when a breath caught in josies throat and she tensed, but eventually josie deflated and pulled hope in closer

The 5 minutes till countdown announcement was made

“hope?”

The girl lifted her head off its place on josies shoulder and she looked into josies eyes  
“yeah?” she asked, sucking in a breath

“i- I uh…. I hope im not overstepping here but I think I like you”

“josie, you need to stop worrying about crossing lines, and truly im offended that you only think you like me and you don’t know you like me” hope joked before adding “especially since I know I like you”

Josies eyes lit up “you do?”

“yeah dummy, I thought it was pretty obvious”

“hmm” josie hummed thoughtfully and happily

“josie?”

“yeah”

“you wanna know something?”

“always”

10

9

8

“ive never kissed anyone on new years”

7

Josie looked at hope

6

“really?”

5

“yeah”

4

“so…” hope said, bouncing on her heels”

3

“hmm” josie turned to face hope better”

2

“josie do you wanna be my first new years kiss?”

1

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” was heard in a chorus around them as the girls lips molded together

Hope was right, they were soft and pillowy and josie was an awesome kisser

She felt eyes on them but she didn’t care, she could hear literal fireworks going off around them, the spark undeniable

The kiss left both of them feeling breathless and when air was needed they rested their foreheads together, neither girl ready to open her eyes, fearing it wouldn’t have even been real

Josie opened her eyes followed by hope and they just looked at eachother for a minute, noth of them lost in their own little bubble, the world around them meaningless. They couldn’t hear the hoots and hollars of everyone excited for 2020, they couldn’t hear lizzie clapping, and they couldn’t hear the heels clacking across the floor

“wow” hope breathed

“yeah, wow” josie copied

“what the hell is the meaning of this? Kitchen, now”

“shit” hope said panicked, her arm being forcefully grabbed by Barbara and body being practically dragged into the kitchen

“everyone out.” None of the staff moved “now! What do I pay you imbeciles for???” everyone filed out immediately and Barbara dropped hopes arm and spun around making hope dizzy

“what the hell do you think you’re doing? I specifically told you not to pull this shit and embarrass you father, why cant you do anything right?” her hand struck her cheek

Hopes hand shot up to the sting in her face, right where she pulled glass out earlier, and she let a single tear escape, one of sheer terror. She didn’t know what Barbara would do this time

“stop crying you idiot! God you’re such a child!” her hand never even made it to hopes face as the kitchen door swung open

“get away from her!” a man shouted, two more people filed it, one Barbara recognized as whoever the hell hope was making out with

Hope spun around to look at the people who entered

Alaric satlzman, caroline forbes, and the Saltzman twins

Im sorry josie mouthed

“and who the hell are you?” Barbara spat

“you know damn well who I am, you paid off dozens of cps employees and got me fired, that was you wasn’t it? I didn’t put two and two together until now, but id recognize that ugly hatred anywhere Barbara” alaric practically spat

“you have no business being in my house at all, let alone meddling in family affairs, get out now or I will have you arrested”

“don’t-“ hope started only to be slapped and hard by Barbara

“alright you bitch” caroline stalked over faster than anyone could blink and slapped Barbara in her botched plastic surgery she called a face, the melodramatic woman falling to the ground and cradling her face

“mom!” lizzie shouted in a state of shock, and something close to pride

“Richard! Call the police! This woman assaulted me!”

“do you really want police here? I have three other people that witnessed you harm this minor not to mention at least 20 people hiding behind that wall pretending not to listen who are hearing and seeing everything transpiring in this room right now, and I will have lawyers and cops crawling so far up your ass they’ll be able to see through your mouth, I want you to listen and I want you to listen carefully. We know all about what you’ve been pulling on hope and we’re not letting it happen anymore” caroline got up in barbaras face 

“what makes you think I wont just punish her for being so intolerable when you leave?”

“easy, shes staying with us, hope pack a bag, now”

“what?” hope said dumbly, she was so confused. No one had ever stood up for her before

“you cant just take her with you, legally she is under my care. I am her guardian”

“and I will legally have you thrown into the most dreary prison cell I can set you up in for child abuse among whatever the hell else you and your husband have been up to if you even try to stop us”

Barbara gaped her mouth like a fish. She was speechless

Josie wrapped her arms around hope whispering in her ear and not two seconds later they were out of the kitchen, presumably to pack a bag

Caroline turned around, her heels clacking on the pristine marble floor as she left the kitchen, alaric and lizzie following, not before lizzie stuck her tongue out, leaving Barbara on her kitchen floor speechless

The staff came back in one by one

“get them you idiots! Don’t let them leave!” Barbara screamed

“we cant do that ma’am” a woman around her mid forties stated

“and why the hell not?”

“we quit”

Xxx

Hope held a backpack open, still shocked as josie threw in some essentials

“holy shit”

“holy fucking shit oh my god”

“what happened” josie abruptly stopped packing and looked at hope in concern

“your mom is fucking awesome oh my god, im shaking right now, holy shit did she really…. I don’t even-“

Josie smiled and continued packing “you don’t have to deal with her anymore. My mom and dad are not going to sleep until she is behind bars”

Hope suddenly hugged josie

“thank you” she whispered

“for what? I didn’t do anything” josie said confused

“you told them, didn’t you?”

Josie nodded “im sorry”

“don’t be, you saved me josie Saltzman”

“and I would do it again, every day”

The end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> barbara franklin screamed at the guards outside her prison cell, her shrill voice echoing off the concrete walls of the building  
> "almost forgot, heres your new outfit" the buff guard smirked tossing her an orange jumpsuit
> 
> the sound barbara let out was loud enough to wake the dead

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr (kylemusix) im gonna start posting drawings, prompts and maybe music or something, idk, plus we could chat if u want cause i have no friends lmao, and who said you couldnt make your depressing statements acceptable with lol


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